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Specific microbial ratio in the gut microbiome is associated with multiple sclerosis
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Specific microbial ratio in the gut microbiome is associated with multiple sclerosis

Sudeep Ghimire, Peter C Lehman, Leeann S Aguilar Meza, Shailesh K Shahi, Jemmie Hoang, Heena Olalde, Mishelle Paullus, Catherine Cherwin, Kai Wang, Christine Gill, …
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.122(10), p.e2413953122
03/03/2025
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2413953122
PMCID: PMC11912405
PMID: 40030030

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Abstract

Gut microbiota dysbiosis is associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), but the causal relationship between specific gut bacteria and MS pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Therefore, we profiled the stool microbiome of people with MS (PwMS) and healthy controls (HC) using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. PwMS showed a distinct microbiome compared to HC, with ( ) and species as drivers of microbial communities in HC and PwMS, respectively. Administration of MS-driving species ( ) to mice resulted in increased levels of gut inflammatory markers and altered microbiota with increased capacity to induce proinflammatory cytokines. Utilizing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS, we identified a lower gut to ratio as a hallmark of the disease. -administered mice also showed a lower to ratio pre-EAE induction which correlated with increased disease severity post-EAE induction. The importance of the to ratio at the species level, lower to ( ), was validated in our MS cohort and a large International Multiple Sclerosis Microbiome Study. Thus, our findings highlight the ratio as a potential gut microbial marker in PwMS, opening avenues for microbiome-based diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy in MS.
Adult Akkermansia Animals Bifidobacterium Case-Control Studies Dysbiosis - microbiology Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental - microbiology Feces - microbiology Female Gastrointestinal Microbiome Humans Male Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Middle Aged Multiple Sclerosis - microbiology Prevotella - isolation & purification

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